


Ace Of Clubs

by With Stars For Freckles (GirlOfSaltAndStars)



Series: you claim its not in the cards (but you're here in my heart) [3]
Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Aromantic, Gen, Prison, Self-Esteem Issues, Sibling Rivalry, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:28:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26706742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlOfSaltAndStars/pseuds/With%20Stars%20For%20Freckles
Summary: Merritt McKinney didn't have a soulmate. Then he did, but it was too late. His brother was right though, he was a feak.
Relationships: Chase McKinney & Merritt McKinney
Series: you claim its not in the cards (but you're here in my heart) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608310
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Ace Of Clubs

**Author's Note:**

> Preface: This one isn't as angsty as the last installment, but there are some self-esteem issues. I dig a little deeper in endnotes, so if you don't mind spoilers jump down there.

“Freak.” Chase followed the insult with a swift smack to nine-year-old Merritt’s head. Merritt glowered at his twin, who was leering at him from the safety of the other side of the kitchen table. Merritt covertly flipped him off and Chase just made a face. 

“He has a point.” Their dad, Frederick supplied, giving Marrit a look that at best, was apathetic “I mean, what sort man are you going to be if you don’t even got a soulmate?” 

“Shut up Fredrick.” Martha, his mother, snapped “At least Merritt won’t have to worry about their soulmate running off with a different man every two weeks.” 

“Oh get over it Martha!” their dad moaned, rolling his eyes “That was over a month ago! I swear I ain’t seen Gina since.” 

“It was two weeks ago with Lola you dick.” Martha spat “and that’s what you said the last twenty times.” 

“Well, at least I don’t spend all our money on TV infomercial shit.” Dad snipped. Merritt just ignited them. If his parents had nickered over this once, they’d done it a hundred times. It was just how they said good morning. He finished his half done eggs and burnt toast before slipping away from the table. Chase was snickering into his juice as their parents fought, and they were so wrapped up in that, he was pretty sure they didn’t even notice he left. 

He knew it was weird that he didn’t have a soulmark- most people got them before they were two, and his twin was no exception, but Merrittrit hadn’t been so lucky (or maybe he really was lucky. Marriage didn’t seem like it was all that much to look forward too- too many restrictions and bickering for a guy lie Merritt). They weren’t exactly right though. As he changed into clean clothes for the day, he caught a glimpse of the mark on his side, peeking through the sheep makeup he’d put on it last night. He resigned himself to buying more later that day with money he took from his mom. She wouldn’t even notice it gone, the two bucks he needed. At this point, his family didn’t need to know about the kinda strange age gap or the fact he now had a mark. 

Besides. Soulmates didn’t seem like much fun if his parents were anything to go by. 

\--   
By the time Merritt was seventeen, he was a pro at hiding his mark. He used makeup on it every time he got out of the shower and could cover it up without anyone, even Chase being suspicious. His parents still fought and with the way most high school couples ended up doing nothing but hanging off their soulmates, getting married before they were legal, Merritt was kinda glad his soulmate had to be a kid. No chance of any of that for Merritt, not for a long time, and honestly? Hopefully not even. A soulmate just seemed like a hell of a lot of work. The romance wasn’t really his thing. Sex? Abso-fuckin-lutley. Sex was great. But the romance, the love part… just didn’t do much for him. If it was even real 

Love.. just seemed fake. Crushes didn’t really make sense. Neither did those stupid movies people watched. Romeo and Juliet was a good story, but he was pretty sure no one actually acted like that. So love was fake. Obviously. At least, romantic love anyway. 

“I love you.” a girl, Gia, told him once after they’d done it under the bleachers, and Merritt had stared at her blankly. She didn’t have a soulmate either, or so she said, and Merritt was more than glad to let her think he didn’t have one either if they could get it on sometimes- she wasn’t needy and was a good lay. 

Despite his ability to read most people like an open book, he hadn’t been expecting that form her. He chalked it up to thinking with his lower brain, and the fact that most of their time was spent in small dark places, doing pretty much anything but talking. Well, except for the few times they’d eaten after they’d done it, but then he still was thinning with his other brain. And had food. 

“What?” he said, and could hold back a small snort “No you don’t.” 

“But I do,” she said imploringly. Desperate. “I love you Merritt. Do you love me?” 

Merri still had no idea what she meant by that. “Love? Love isn’t real, darlin’” He said, like ti was the most obvious thing in the world, because it was- wasn’t it?

Gia burst out crying then, which did make him feel bad. Gina wasn’t a bad person “Gina, you’re real nice, but love’s just a made-up feeling, all those fake butterflies and crap, that doesn’t happen. I didn’t think you bought into it.” 

“I knew you were a dick, but I didn’t realize you were a cruel bastard!” 

Merritt emerged from under the bleachers with a bright red handprint on his cheek, and an understanding that maybe love was a real emotion- just maybe not one he felt. 

He was smart enough to keep that thought to himself too. No use giving Chase any more ammunition than the bastard had already.   
\-- 

“Still a lonely freak.” Chase taunted one night on the road. “I can’t believe it, bro. Twenty four and still no soulmate. I mean, I already knew you were born a loser, but for the universe to think you not even worth a soul mate? Damn, you really suck.” 

“Thanks, Chase.” Merritt snapped “I’m so glad that you have finally come up with some new material, I was getting tired of you just calling me a freak. I think being lonely is a real nice touch.” 

“Don’t get testy.” Chase taunted “I’m just sayin’. Can’t fault me for stating the obvious.” 

Merritt just flipped Chase the bird as he headed back to the RV. He was too tired for this shit and they had a show in two hours “I hope your soulmate is a nun!” 

“You don’t think I could tempt a nun?” Chase shouted, “I mean, we both know I’m the handsome twin!” 

\--- 

Chase’s soulmate was not a nun. Damn. But hey, what was one more dream crushed?

“This is Mindy.: Chase said, though Merritt wasn't really sure if it was the girl handing off his left or right arm. Both were more boob than girls and had gaudy makeup on “My soulmate. And her friend. You don’t mind clearing out for me, do you bro? We need a few hours to get acquainted.” Chase through an overdramatic wink that had both girls giggling like idiots. Listen. Merritt got the appeal of a threesome, but really? On the night you meet your soulmate? He thought romance was crap, but come on. But, hell maybe both of them were and the universe gave Chase two soulmates, instead of giving Merritt any. Whatever. 

Merritt rolled his eyes “Gladly” 

He really had no need to be anywhere near his brother while they got acquainted. 

\-- 

Mindy turned out to be the brunette girl who’d been draped over Chase’s left side. And unfortunately, they really were soulmates. A match made in hell, because Merritt could not stand them. Either of them Or their knockdown, drag-out, fights that they insisted on having every week. 

“You don’t really love me!” Merritt could hear Mindy screaming from inside their RV. He was leaned against the side, smoking because he didn’t have anything better to do, but stand on the side of the road until they finished fighting it out (then fucking it out) so they could get back on the road. 

“I do too!” Chase yelled, “You’re just a greedy bitch!” Chase shouted back. Something shattered and Merritt distantly hoped it wasn’t the good whiskey that he’d been saving for a special occasion (maybe the day he committed a double homicide, but that was only a fantasy) 

“I just don’t want to live in a fucking RV with your freaky brother!” 

Merritt rolled his eyes. Mindy had picked up on the contentious relationship but her insults.. Well, they were lacking. CHase started with freak and usually built, with subtle digs that were grudgingly impressive (Chase knew that only pissed Merrittrit off more, so of course he used them. Of course). Mindy was too dumb to get past freak, so he didn’t find it hurtful, so much as annoying. 

And God, Mindy was annoying. 

There was another crash that Merritt was almost certain was his whiskey, along with more indistinguishable yelling, before things went quiet. 

Then the RV started rocking, and he could hear the moans even more clearly than the screaming. 

He just heaved a sign and stomped the cigarette butt out under his heel. There was a gas station a few hundred yards back- he could use some hypnosis practice. Chase wasn’t technically better, but Merritt couldn’t risk that happening. He needed to stay sharp. 

So he walked down the highway, cursing just how loud Mindy was. 

How was this his life? 

\--

Jail was…. Jail was better than being stuck on the road with his brother, honestly

Did he hate his brother’s everloving guts for letting Mindy bully them into stupid illegal shit, just to keep her happy, and for letting Merritt alone take the fall, effectively ruining his career forever? Oh absolutely. 

But his brother was an insufferable bastard that he could never get one upon. In jail, he was at least the insufferable bastard and didn’t have to listen to his brother’s annoying laugh or look at Mindy’s face. 

So really, despite his life being ruined and his world being confined to a single cell, a cafeteria, and a dismal yard, life wasn’t too bad. People snuck in cards, cigs, and occasionally porn. 

Merritt was pretty sure he wasn’t capable of love- he certainly didn’t love his family and no one else had ever been close enough to potentially fill that space. He tried not to think about that much, how much of a freak he actually was, but that was the biggest downside of jail, all the thinking time. So he often ended up staring at the ceiling, wondering if he was born this way, or if his parents had just burned the love out of him. 

Honestly, either one was possible. 

Made him glad though, when he turned thirty-five, officially hitting the ‘statistically unlikely to find their soulmate’ category and jail helped that right along. 

Whatever poor kid was stuck with him as a soulmate deserved love. They definitely didn’t deserve Merritt. 

\-- 

He spent twenty years inside, and never had one visitor. 

That was fine by him. Chase had vanished, thankfully taking Mindy (and unfortunately all their money) a long time ago, and he was pretty sure his parents knew but didn’t give a shit. Thought they might be dead. Merritt couldn’t quite bring himself to care about them to find out.

The world was different, after twenty years. 

He was released on a Wednesday. The sun was bright as fuck, and his real clothes felt strange, after so long in the issued jumpsuit. He squinted into the sun as he stepped outside the gates. It looked like a different place, outside the high gates he’d been so used to. Merritt looked to his left, where visitor parking was. A kid, Rodney, was going home today too. He’d only been in five years, but when that was a fourth of your life, it felt like a long time. In parking, the kid was smothered in a hug by his mama. Even from across the huge lot, he could see both of them crying, and the girls, his sisters, looked like they were crying too. 

Merritt looked away. 

The bus stop was around the corner, and he didn’t want to miss the bus. 

\-- 

Technology changed. Merritt was staring at the little device (the expensive as hell device, but then again everything was fucking expensive anymore.) with concentration and quite a bit of frustration. 

Whoever the hell decided to make the buttons so tiny ought to be sent to prison, Merritt thought viciously, for the rest of their damn lives. The phone was complicated and far more frustrating than Merritt wanted to admit. He knew, rationally, that he could figure out the phone. He’d bought it after the cashier insisted he needed one, especially if he would be living in New York. At the time, he had the small bit of cash he’d gotten after getting out, and the free bus ticket they’d given him to get home. But now, the damn thing was just a symbol of the years his brother store from him with love as the excuse. 

Love wasn’t shit. It was a good thing he didn’t get it, because it apparently just made people damn fools. 

Merritt threw the phone away. Who was he going to call, anyway? 

\--- 

Jail taught him lots of things. Some of them were useless. He was pretty sure that he would never have to learn how to make a toothbrush into a knife again or how to count to ten million. He never wanted it that again, if he could help. On the other hand, SOme of them were useful, like how to really read people like an open book. He’d already been good at it, sure, but in Jail, when 80% of your time is spent looking at other people, doing nothing but trying to ignore their emotions, just like you, well, it really was something you have to learn to do so that you didn’t get your ass kicked by pushing the wrong button on the wrong day.

It was also fun to know how to push someone's buttons to make them piss off another person and start a fight. Or riot. A physical altercation that you can watch but completely be free of harm from when it got broken up because really, he didn’t do anything. It’s not his fault people took what he said wrong. 

Subtle hypnosis was also necessary because then it got people off his back. It also helped him get what he wanted from the guards when he wormed his way right into their minds. 

He knew it all already. His dad had taught them that, passing his knowledge down, from his psychology degree and years as a weightloss hypnosis instructor. But, it didn’t hurt to practice and jail gave plenty of opportunities. All of that was very useful for a street magician. 

Performing on the streets really wasn't much different than it was before he went in, thankfully. People expected flair and Merrittrit knew how to give it. Women were also pretty much the exact same and so was sex. 

Small mercies, he supposed. 

Merritt took to re-covering his soulmark. People didn’t really talk about it in prison, and the guards didn’t even picture it. It was considered too private for even them to document. THe noted where it was, of course, but they wouldn't dare get more specific, unless you were arrested for hard crimes, like murder or terrorism. Definitely not for fraud or just regular theft. 

But on the outside, people still asked, still wanted to know about his soulmate. Merritt never lied about them, never said he didn’t have one. He just said he hadn’t met them and didn’t care to. When women asked if their marks matched, he never had to lie and say they didn’t, because they never did. Merritt was closer to fifty than thirty now, and every day, his chances of meeting his soulmate dropped lower. 

He really didn’t mind.

Why would he want to meet someone who he could never love?  
\--- 

He got a tarot card then, and the Eye called him up to join them. 

He almost didn’t go- working on the streets wasn’t great. He missed the real crowds, real stages, and real money, but he was free. Merritt was good enough to have faithful fans, but low profile enough that he didn’t risk getting attention called on him by the police (well, no more than any other street performer, con artist did). 

But then he thought about Chase, who, though he had avoided jail, didn’t have any sort of career to speak of either. Fuck you, Chase. Merritt was going to be great. 

Even if he was a freak. 

\--   
Children. The Eye had given him, a magical veteran who's probably been working for longer than most of them ( definitely Jack) had been alive, absolute children to perform with. It was a joke, right? A test? To see that Merritt could work with anything and still make the show great. To see if Merritt would follow orders. 

Looming at their baby faces (because they were fuking babies, just like he’d been once), the excitement evident on Jack’s face, the ambition pooled in Atlas’s eyes, and the uncertainty in Henley’s when she looked at Atlas, well, Merritt was certain that this would end in disaster. 

They couldn’t even stand to look at each other, let alone work together. And he had years on them. No matter how good they thought they were (Henely looked like she thought she was good. Atlas just told you he was good. Jack still just seems happy to be there). So even if they were good magicians (which he doubted) they would just be more people to fight with. More to eventually try and toss him out, to steal the show for themselves. Especially Atlas. He didn't trust that kid as far as he could throw him. And Jack? Jack was going to get eaten alive. 

But this time? This time Merrittwould be ready. He’d give up the eye only if they pried it from his cold, dead hands. 

He didn’t put that past Atlas either, to make it a reality. 

At least, in that case, his soulmate would really be free.

**Author's Note:**

> Merritt, in my headcanon is aromantic. He struggles with that in this piece because he has no idea that is a thing, and his family is obviously not accepting of that. I do not hold the beliefs that aro people are broken or freaks. they are valid and normal! Just clearing that up! 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed it! Either Dylan or Henely is up next, probably Henley!


End file.
